day no. 15,253: too glad to be true

"The reconciliation of righteousness and mercy is the main theme which drove forward the medieval heart of the Protestant Reformation. Of the early Puritans, C.S. Lewis remarked, 'Whatever they were, they were not sour, gloomy, or severe; Nor did their enemies bring any such charge against them.... For [Thomas] More, a Protestant was one 'Dronke of the new must, of lewd lightnes of minde and vayne gladnessese of harte'.... Protestantism was not too grim but too glad to be true.' Too glad to be true - what a wonderful summary of the fruit of the Protestant doctrine of justification! Now things have changed. In our day, evangelicals almost yearn to be described as 'sour, gloomy, and severe,' as we grovel in our self-centered pietism and political campaigns for external morality. What a different world we would live in if Christians were characterized, not as those calling for Federal prohibitions on this and that, but for the right to celebrate? What if we were known by our enemies, not for our shallow sentimentalism and indifference to beauty, but as that community most exuberantly living life to the fullest, full of eating, drinking, and merriment (Eccl. 8:15)? Perhaps then we could be slandered like our Lord for being gluttons, winebibbers, and friends of sinners (Matt. I I:19). The exuberance characteristic of the early Protestants wasn't the thin fanaticism of a Finney revival, but the life-changing shock of unexpected liberation, the joy of justification in Christ." - Douglas Wilson, Angels in the Architecture  

How good is the Good News?

I think we have a better handle on how important it is than on how good it is. We know it's important. We believe it's meaningful. We engrave it on things. We memorialize it.

But do we celebrate it?
Is it so good that it can't but erupt into praise?

Christians are called to enjoy the goodness and beauty of the Good News as well as to stand for the truth and importance of it. In fact, by reveling in its goodness, we actually accentuate its importance. It is so important that it shows up in the way we eat our meals, pray before bed, carry ourselves when walking, give when no one's looking. Our generosity is fueled by cheer when we dwell on the goodness of the Good News. It does not compete with its importance. It only heightens how important it is and declares it vibrantly.